Merely in the second round, Claressa Shields was able to make history with an impressive knockout. Live from Detroit, Michigan, ‘GWOAT’ Shields was able to capture her fourth weight class title, and did it with an impressive knockout.
Claressa Shields vs. Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse
The undefeated Shields has already had a highly decorated career in boxing. As an amateur, she earned gold in the Olympics in 2012 and 2016 representing the USA. Since turning pro, she has been able to capture titles in WBA, WBC, IBF, WBF, and The Ring, across middleweight, light middleweight, and super middleweight.
Now, the Michigan-born athlete can add heavyweight world champion to her name. With a second-round knockout against Canada’s Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse, Shields added the WBC, and WBF female heavyweight, plus the vacant WBO female light heavyweight championships to her esteemed career.
With three knockdowns in the second round, the referee waived off the match as Lepage-Joanisse was struggling to stay on her feet. Moving up in weight, Shields was able to show off her power and technique. The US-born athlete also competes in MMA under the PFL banner.
“The newfound power does feel good,” Shields continued, “It f—ing shocked me. I’m not going to lie. I’ve had some great performances, but is it my best knockout? Absolutely.” On her future plans, she added, “I think I can campaign at any weight class, and it is some tough challenges at heavyweight. So, I’m going to let me and my team put our minds together to see what’s the best choice and what makes the best sense.”
See the boxing knockout highlights of Claressa Shields vs. Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse below.